Product Details

• Directors: Charlotte Grossman
• Format: NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: CGPP
• DVD Release Date: December 1, 2003
• Run Time: 61 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0001A072A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #259,824 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Wow! That's a quilt?", January 25, 2004

By 

Carolyn J. Hill (Rodeo, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woman's Work: Making Quilts - Creating Art (DVD)

Of the twenty million Americans who quilt, six hundred thousand make art quilts--quilts meant to hang on the wall instead of to cover a bed. In the documentary "Woman's Work: Making Quilts-Creating Art," award-winning filmmaker Charlotte Grossman explores the process and effect of creating art quilts, focusing on ten Northern California women who speak of the personal nature of their art: how it intersects, enriches, complicates, and extends their lives as mothers, scientists, architects, musicians, filmmakers, paralegals, careerwomen, and academy-trained artists. Some work full-time at their art; others tuck it into the spaces between jobs and family. All are conscious of their connections to and differences from previous generations of traditional quilters, women who had to "Make it new, make it over, make it do, or do without."

Like a quilt itself, the documentary is multilayered. There are poignant moments in the film, as when one participant reveals that after her mother's death she began quilting because she had heard other women talk about embracing creativity after loss, and she thought, "Oh my god, I'm not even grieving my mother properly!" There's humor, as when another participant waxes poetic over her industrial iron. Above all, there's thoughtful, articulate, down-to-earth reflection on a wide range of variously intriguing and inspiring topics. As the women critique each others' quilts, work alone on their art, or speak directly to the camera, they reflect on the tools they use, where their ideas come from, how lifestyle affects their art, how they sell (or don't sell) their quilts, how they deal with failure and creative blocks, how making art is vital to their sense of self, what it means to them that quilting is viewed as women's work, and how they find great joy and pleasure in the creative process of making a quilt. For many of these women, it is the process, not the final product, that is fulfilling--even therapeutic. Because the process matters most to them, they discuss but ultimately set aside theoretical issues such as the exact definition of the word "quilt", whether quilting is an art or a craft, and whether perfect, tiny stitches matter more than the work's overall impact.

As I watched the film, I was struck by the variety of life experiences, working conditions, and chosen methods these women bring to their art. Some of their work spaces are tiny 7x10-foot rooms, some are large well-lit studios, some are cold and drafty warehouses. Some women work with commercial fabrics, some work with textiles that they've hand-dyed or painted or printed, some add paper or other objects to their quilts. Some plan their quilts meticulously, while others let intuition guide them as they work. But despite this variety, each of these women feels the attraction to fabric that any quilter and many other women know so well: the tactile, personal, sensuous nature of its color, texture, and form.

Quiltmakers, friends and family of quilters, creative women, and artists in general will be intrigued and enlightened by "Woman's Work: Making Quilts-Creating Art."

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Artist to Artist, March 28, 2004

By 

Carla J. Patterson "Carla J. Patterson" (Richmond, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Woman's Work: Making Quilts - Creating Art (DVD)

As an artist and a quilter, I found this documentary resonant, inspiring, and fascinating. Not only does it weave together the experiences artists and craftswomen share, it clarifies some of the ways that artists and craftswomen differ in their goals and their way of looking at the work they do. It's well paced and edited, with meaningful discussions of process mixed in with small revelations of technique, stimulating glimpses of works in progress, and satisfying views of finished quilts. I have seen some of these quilts in person at various local art shows (I also live in the SF Bay Area) and it's fascinating to hear what thoughts and feelings lie behind quilts I've already seen and, in some cases, touched.

I watched this at my house while my Mom, also an artist, watched it at her place with our speaker phones both on so that we could share our reactions to the documentary real-time. It is a wonderful film for people to share with each other as well as to savor in the privacy of one's own mind.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Making Quilts ~ Creating Art", January 29, 2004

By 

Constance Peretz (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Woman's Work: Making Quilts - Creating Art (DVD)

Charlotte Grossman has created a very personal look at the art of quilting as an independent art form. She makes the distinction between art and craft seem irrelevant. This glimpse into the lives, works, and creative process of the ten women quilt artists exhibits a seriousness and genuineness that is consistently fascinating. In this documentary the artists are captured through interviews and direct observation. The process and excitement of making art is compellingly revealed. "Woman's Work: Making Quilts ~ Creating Art" should not to be missed.